Which park first?

[jolene63]

We have never been to Universal Studios, but plan on going down there this summer. Does it matter which park you go to first? I don't know anything about Universal or IoA so I don't even know where to begin my planning. We will be staying at the Royal Pacific so we can get the Express Passes and will be visiting the park for three days. Any tips or advice you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[ThemeParkGuy]

Depends on your interests. IOA is more of a thrill and water ride themed park. If your most interested in Harry Potter, we loved going to Diagon Alley first and taking the train to Hogwarts like the books. More kid friendly rides in the Studios.

 

[jolene63]

Depends on your interests. IOA is more of a thrill and water ride themed park. If your most interested in Harry Potter, we loved going to Diagon Alley first and taking the train to Hogwarts like the books. More kid friendly rides in the Studios.

We will be taking my 13 year old son so he will be most interested in the thrill rides.

 

[Allie B]

We went to Universal for the first time two months ago. I did not have it planned out like I usually do Disney but I can tell you I was pleasantly surprised at the layout of both parks. Easy to get around and figure out where everything is. I would suggest IOA first since to me that was where the bulk of the action and "thrill" rides were.

 

[kohlby]

Since you're staying onsite, you will have the early extra hour. We tend to go to the park with the early extra hour first. That way, we can sleep in more on a later day when we need it more. Or - we can give a park another attempt if something didn't work out. (Like Gringotts not working one early extra hour so trying again the next day - and it working out).

 

[jolene63]

We went to Universal for the first time two months ago. I did not have it planned out like I usually do Disney but I can tell you I was pleasantly surprised at the layout of both parks. Easy to get around and figure out where everything is. I would suggest IOA first since to me that was where the bulk of the action and "thrill" rides were.

Thanks! I'm a pro at planning Disney trips so this is new territory for me. I want to have a game plan considering we will only be there for 2.5-3 days.

 

[jolene63]

Since you're staying onsite, you will have the early extra hour. We tend to go to the park with the early extra hour first. That way, we can sleep in more on a later day when we need it more. Or - we can give a park another attempt if something didn't work out. (Like Gringotts not working one early extra hour so trying again the next day - and it working out).

These are great ideas! Thanks!

 

[macraven]

check out the park maps at www.universalorlando.com

get a feel of how the parks are laid out and potter locations.

will make it easier for you to know where things are located before you enter the parks.


park maps also help you locate first aid, restrooms, ride locations, eateries, etc in advance before you arrive at the parks.

 

[cbsnyber1]

After our first trip we discussed all the attractions and decided we liked the Mummy best. From that time forward our tradition is to go to Studios first and ride the Mummy - and then wander.

As Mac suggested, study the maps, maybe run some YouTube videos on the attractions. Pick one out and start there. Maybe that attraction will become your "first one every trip" tradition (you will return!).

 

[gotomu212]

Another tip- it's SO easy to switch parks (I almost think of it like walking from frontier land to tomorrowland in Disney terms). If you're near the back of the parks you can take the hog warts express which is a ride in itself, if you're near the front it's a 5 minute walk through one gate and over to the other. We usually switch back and forth 3-4 times a day when we're in the mood for one ride or another. We start the trip out going through normally hitting all the rides but by day 2 my son has us skipping back and forth to his favorites. With express pass we also get where my son will ride a roller coaster 5 times in a row and I'll finally have to move us along to save myself.

 

[jolene63]

Another tip- it's SO easy to switch parks (I almost think of it like walking from frontier land to tomorrowland in Disney terms). If you're near the back of the parks you can take the hog warts express which is a ride in itself, if you're near the front it's a 5 minute walk through one gate and over to the other. We usually switch back and forth 3-4 times a day when we're in the mood for one ride or another. We start the trip out going through normally hitting all the rides but by day 2 my son has us skipping back and forth to his favorites. With express pass we also get where my son will ride a roller coaster 5 times in a row and I'll finally have to move us along to save myself.

Thank you so much for this information! It's so hard to plan a first time trip. I didn't realize that the parks were so easy to go back and forth from. I have six months until the trip so I have plenty of time to look at maps, videos, and menus. I love all these tips from Universal experts.

 

[macraven]

Staying at rpr has great benefits
Early entry allows all 5 hotel guests to enter the designated park one hour before it opens to the public

Be sure all in your family have their own hotel key card or they will not be allowed this EE

Do the potter sections during EE as the lines only grow during the day

You will be creating your photo express pass card at the hotel
You need your hotel key for the kiosk to make that ep card

Some rides do not have express lines
Think 5 in that grouping for the parks

Do not know when you are going except you said this summer

Parks are open longer in summer
Saturday is always busy then

You will be able to do a lot by using the ep lines

Do not over look the shows

I find horror make up show an absolute hoot!

 

[nkereina]

We're two adults and find we spend more time at UO than we do IOA. We skip all of Seussland in IOA. Typically, we spend our first day at Universal, our second day at IOA, and we'll either split the third day or we'll just go back to Universal. We also make sure to do the water rides at IOA right before we had back to our resort because you get drenched!